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Posts by Alex Brown

About
Alex is a co host for Clear Admit's Wire Taps podcast. He has spent 30 years in the MBA admissions industry, and authored the book: Becoming a Clear Admit: The Definitive Guide to MBA Admissions Alex also teaches digital marketing through executive education programs for London Business School, Imperial College Business School and Columbia Business School.
Published: October 23, 2022
Wire Taps 258—Columbia ED ding, what now? Sports management in London. Economics faculty in India.
This week’s episode of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions podcast kicks off with a review of the upcoming admissions deadlines, including R1 interview invites for UPenn / Wharton and Duke / Fuqua.  Your hosts also discuss the wave of Early Action decisions out of Darden and Fuqua. Graham then highlighted the Real Humans pieces for Vanderbilt / Owen and Ohio State / Fisher as well as a recent adcom Q&A with Fuqua’ Shari Hubert, noting that half their incoming class receives some form of merit-based scholarship. Graham also presented NYU / Stern’s recently released employment report, Read more
Published: October 16, 2022
Wire Taps 257—13 Applications in one round? Pivoting to investment banking. Start-up experience to tech product management
This edition of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions podcast kicks off with a quick review of the upcoming MBA admissions deadlines for this week, including final decisions from both Duke / Fuqua and UVA / Darden for their Early Action rounds. Alex and Graham then discussed the considerable activity last week on Live Wire in terms of interview invites for several top MBA programs. Graham highlighted three Real Humans pieces for Cambridge / Judge, CMU / Tepper and Rice / Jones and also noted the new adcom Q&As for INSEAD and CMU / Tepper. Your hosts Read more
Published: October 9, 2022
Wire Taps 256—London-based finance guy. Tech applicant seeking entrepreneurship. Indian lawyer, next season.
This week’s action-packed episode runs the gamut from admissions gossip to HBS interview invites, and from Fortune’s MBA ranking to candidate profile reviews…  Alex and Graham kick things off by reviewing the upcoming MBA admissions deadlines, including UNC / Kenan Flagler, Texas / McCombs and USC / Marshall.  They also discuss the activity on MBA LiveWire as Harvard released its Round 1 interview invites. This led to a segment on the forthcoming departure of Chad Losee from Harvard, who joins admissions directors from Stanford, Columbia, Michigan, Tepper, and more as part of an admissions exodus. Graham then highlighted Read more
Published: October 2, 2022
Wire Taps 255—Nigerian with 338 GRE. Female engineer, solid numbers. Indian in Canada
This week’s show begins with a review of the upcoming MBA admissions deadlines for this week, including UVA / Darden, UCLA / Anderson, and Emory / Goizueta. Graham and Alex then turn their attention to the recent announcement of the departure of Kirsten Moss from Stanford (the Chad Losee departure from Harvard was not yet announced at the time that we recorded the podcast). These are indeed very interesting times. Graham highlighted the Adcom Q&A for IESE, while also noting their keen focus on purpose-driven business goals, including sustainability issues. Graham also highlighted the Real Humans stories Read more
Published: September 25, 2022
Wire Taps 254—Pakistani banker, 15 years out. Software engineer, good numbers. Australian, stand out numbers
Our latest podcast begins with Alex looking at the upcoming MBA admissions deadlines for Duke / Fuqua, Dartmouth / Tuck, Columbia ED and Georgetown / McDonough; interview invites are also scheduled for Oxford / Said.  Graham then makes a final plea for a new survey we have published which asks about brand perceptions for each of the top programs. More details are here: https://bit.ly/mbabrands Amazon gift cards are available to some respondents! Beyond deadlines and surveys, Graham and Alex highlighted the new class profile for Northwestern / Kellogg, which fell in line with similar programs within the “M7”. Read more
Published: September 18, 2022
Wire Taps 252—South African candidate, strong numbers. Nigerian candidate, works in London. Higher-ed candidate, may seek impact investing role.
This week’s episode of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast begins with a peek at the upcoming deadlines for this week, which includes Michigan / Ross, Chicago / Booth, Berkeley / Haas and Cornell / Johnson; interview invites are also scheduled for Duke / Fuqua and IESE. Graham then makes a plea for a new survey we have published which asks about brand perceptions for each of the top programs. More details are here: https://bit.ly/mbabrands Amazon gift cards are available to some respondents! Graham also highlighted the new class profiles for Harvard, Haas, and Dartmouth / Read more
Published: September 11, 2022
Wire Taps 251—690, should they retake? Indian corporate lawyer. Targeting the trilogy (HSW)
Our latest episode of the Clear Admit podcast begins with Alex reviewing the upcoming MBA admissions deadlines for this week, which include Stanford, Yale SOM, Northwestern / Kellogg and NYU / Stern. Graham then makes a plea for listeners to take a new survey we have published which asks about brand perceptions for each of the top programs. More details are here: https://bit.ly/mbabrands (Note: Amazon gift cards are available to some of the respondents!) Graham then highlighted the new class profiles for Columbia and Duke / Fuqua, which led to your hosts debating some of the Read more
Published: September 4, 2022
Wire Taps 250—319 GRE, Round 1 vs Round 2. Apply this year or next year? African entrepreneur
This week’s show kicks off with a short “celebration” of the 250th episode of Clear Admit’s podcast. Over 3+ years we’ve had 264,000 listens, with listeners tuning in from nearly every corner of the globe! Alex then discussed this week’s upcoming deadlines, which include Harvard, UPenn / Wharton, UVA / Darden and Duke / Fuqua. Graham highlighted the Real Humans piece recently published for Michigan / Ross MBA students, and your hosts discussed the value of these pieces for understanding fit for each of these programs. Graham also highlighted the Adcom Q&As from Vanderbilt / Owen and Read more
Published: August 28, 2022
Wire Taps 249—Eastern European with low GRE score. Retaking the GMAT, modest GPA. Strong numbers, strong profile
This week’s episode kicks off with a look ahead to this week’s admissions deadlines for Oxford / Said and ISB. Graham and Alex also discussed the current activity on MBA LiveWire from those applying to Columbia Early Decision and J-Term rounds. Graham noted two recently published Adcom Q&As, from the ISB and UC Irvine; he then brought up the recent publication of a ‘Real Numbers’ piece on the percent of students who are US minorities at the top programs in the United States. This led to a discussion regarding the important distinction between being an under-represented minority Read more
Published: August 21, 2022
Wire Taps 248—Indian EdTech entrepreneur. Aerospace and Defense engineer. Enlisted Army linguist.
This week’s podcast kicks off with a discussion of the recently released class profiles for UCLA / Anderson and Cornell / Johnson. Both programs showcase impressive incoming students and stats overall, but there are some notable trends to observe around application volume and an uptick in the percentage of international students. Alex and Graham wonder if this potentially leads to some downward pressure on gender diversity, as the international pool traditionally has fewer women (as a percentage) than the domestic pool. Alex noted the fast-approaching R1 deadlines for this season, and Graham highlighted the Adcom Q&As that Read more
Published: August 14, 2022
Wire Taps 247—Super GMAT modest GPA conundrum. Hungarian consultant. Brazilian banker
This week’s episode of WireTaps kicks off with a discussion on the percentage of international students at the top US MBA programs. There is quite a difference in the numbers at Stanford and Columbia versus Wharton and Harvard. Alex and Graham speculated as to the reasons. Your hosts also noted the upcoming MBA admissions deadlines for Round 1, which begin at the end of August. Graham then highlighted an upcoming webinar (August 17) featuring alumni who appeared in our Real Humans series to discuss their career paths. You can sign up here: https://bit.ly/realhumanswebinar Graham also highlighted the Read more
Published: August 7, 2022
Wire Taps 246—Over-represented, retake the GMAT? Professional gambling pastime. Military candidate, seeking deferral.
This episode kicks off with a brief conversation about Alex and Graham’s first webinar for Clear Admit+ subscribers. It was a fun and intimate event, allowing Alex and Graham to provide direct feedback on specific subscriber questions. The second Clear Admit+ webinar is scheduled for Monday, August 29. More details on Clear Admit+ are here:  https://www.clearadmit.com/clearadmit-plus/ Beyond ClearAdmit+ news, Graham highlighted the recently published UPenn / Wharton class profile. Wharton is the first school to announce their class profile this season, and it certainly includes some impressive numbers. One element that your hosts neglected to mention is the drop Read more
Published: July 31, 2022
Wire Taps 245—Space career to help differentiate. Lots of potential, for next season. Using the MBA to help relocate?
This week’s episode of WireTaps kicks off with some discussion about the recent rollout of Clear Admit+, our new subscription service (which we are very excited to have launched!). Clear Admit+ comprises more than 4 hours of proprietary video content that Graham and Alex recently recorded in London. The subscription also includes access to our data dashboard, unlimited access to Clear Admit publications, and a monthly webinar series, the first of which is scheduled for today. More details are here: https://www.clearadmit.com/clearadmit-plus/ Beyond chatting about Clear Admit+, Graham highlighted the recent Adcom Q&As with Stanford and Arizona State / Carey. Read more
Published: July 24, 2022
Wire Taps 243—Belgian who flies. Electrical engineer, targeting reach schools. Policy advisor, aiming high.
The latest episode of the podcast begins with an exciting announcement about Clear Admit+, our new subscription service! Clear Admit+ provides subscribers with exclusive content and tools.  It includes access to the Admissions Academy, a digital course consisting of more than four hours of proprietary video content that podcast hosts Graham and Alex recently recorded in London. It’s designed to move you through the admissions process, from researching the right programs, developing your “personal inventory”, tackling each element of the written application, and preparing for the interviews. The subscription also includes access to the Clear Admit Data Dashboard (a tool Read more
Published: July 17, 2022
Wire Taps 242—Ballet dancer to non-profit arts management. Three time GMAT test taker, strong engineer profile. Long term goal clarity, for someone planning ahead.
This episode of WireTaps begins with some fun Q&A; specifically Graham quizzing Alex about his upbringing, a desired superpower, and other questions typically reserved for our ‘real humans’ guests. Alex and Graham then go on to discuss the slow-down in waitlist activity of late, cautioning that it’s not over until students arrive on campus. Graham highlighted an Adcom Q&A, recently published, for MIT / Sloan, and noted the recent anonymous gift that Dartmouth / Tuck received: $52 million for a new summit to focus on health, wealth and sustainability. Graham then highlighted the ongoing MBA essay workshop series; Read more
Published: July 10, 2022
Wire Taps 241—Army vet in Real Estate. Super numbers, strong healthcare focus. Stellar GMAT, but more modest GPA.
This episode of the Clear Admit podcast kicks off with some talk about the activity on MBA LiveWire, which included Harvard’s decision release for its 2+2 program, as well as some additional waitlist movement. Graham highlighted some tidbits from the Adcom Q&As recently published, for Northwestern Kellogg and Chicago Booth, as well as a ‘Real Numbers’ piece focused on average GRE scores; kudos goes to Yale SOM with a median score of 331! Graham also noted the upcoming MBA essay workshops, beginning this Wednesday with Berkeley Haas, Chicago Booth, Dartmouth Tuck, and UVA Darden; signups are here: https://bit.ly/cambaessays  Alex Read more
Published: July 3, 2022
Wire Taps 240—First-gen scholar, Taiwanese Canadian accountant. Seeking Search Fund Opportunities.
This week’s podcast begins with a discussion of recent activity of LiveWire; a few waitlist decisions are still being released, while new applicants are beginning to report their applications for next season (at least for Columbia’s Early Decision round). Harvard Business School is scheduled to announce its 2+2 deferred enrollment decisions this upcoming week, closing out the 2021-22 decision-release season. Graham discussed the Economist ranking, and also highlighted an Adcom Q&A with NYU / Stern. your hosts also discussed GMAT numbers at top programs, highlighting a series published on Clear Admit. Graham also noted the upcoming MBA essay workshops, scheduled Read more
Published: June 26, 2022
Wire Taps 239—Targeting Southeast, Duke versus M7. Full-time versus Part-time, for MBB. Urban planner, strong ECs.
This episode of WireTaps kicks off with Graham reflecting on his experience at the GMAC conference (and the party that Clear Admit hosted for fellow Graduate Management colleagues). He then highlighted a Real Humans alumni piece, featuring an MBA graduate from INSEAD who is now working at Bain. This led to a discussion on the need for ‘focus’ during your MBA vs. the advantages of freedom (exploring random activities with fellow classmates), and how the 80-20 rule may apply. Graham also noted the upcoming MBA essay workshops, scheduled for July, signups are here: https://bit.ly/cambaessays The opening segment wrapped Read more
Published: June 19, 2022
Wire Taps 238—Congressional experience, two pathways. Multiple degrees, from Germany. Brit in Taiwan, great numbers.
This week’s episode finds Graham in Baltimore, USA, as he attends the Annual GMAC conference to catch up with admissions industry professionals at all the major MBA programs; Alex is a little jealous (recalling fond memories of past GMAC conferences he attended). On the admissions front, Alex highlighted the increasing switch from activity from this season (dwindling waitlist movements) to next season (more admissions deadlines and essay topics being announced). Graham highlighted two Real Humans Alumni pieces, Michigan / Ross and Cornell / Johnson, both working for McKinsey. Graham also highlighted the upcoming MBA essay workshops, scheduled for Read more
Published: June 12, 2022
Wire Taps 237—Strong international experience, is it enough? Government candidate from Canada. Military candidate with outstanding numbers
This week’s podcast kicks off with a discussion about updates for the new application cycle, as leading MBA programs have started releasing their new admissions deadlines and updated essays questions. Speaking of b-school essays, Graham reminded listeners of the upcoming MBA essay workshops – scheduled for July – signups are here: https://bit.ly/cambaessays.  Alex then highlighted the MBA admissions book that Clear Admit offers, which suggests candidates begin with a “personal inventory” before tackling their individual applications and essays. Graham shared three Real Humans alumni pieces, including an INSEAD graduate working at Amazon, a Northwestern / Kellogg Read more
Published: June 5, 2022
Wire Taps 236—Central Asian candidate with manufacturing experience. Super numbers, going fast! First-gen female candidate, worried about the GMAT.
Alex and Graham are back with another episode of WireTaps, kicking off this week’s show with a discussion of the recent roll-out of several Clear Admit ‘essay topic analyses’ (which we prepare each season), as the likes of Tuck, Darden, HBS, CBS, and more have published their topics for 2022-23.  Speaking of essays, Graham also announced the upcoming essay workshops, which run throughout the month of July and into August.  The first workshop includes school representatives from Berkeley / Haas, Chicago / Booth, Dartmouth / Tuck, and Virginia / Darden. You can sign up here: https://bit.ly/cambaessays.  Moving on from Read more
Published: May 29, 2022
Wire Taps 235—Promising MBA candidate, unknown additional activities. Unconventional candidate, with weaker numbers. 730 GMAT, should they retake?
Happy Memorial Day! This week’s podcast kicks off with some discussion of the latest wait list movements and anticipation of more activity over the next couple of weeks. Graham then discussed the Application Overview Workshops that have now concluded and previewed Clear Admit’s July webinar series, which will be focused on each MBA program’s essays. Graham also noted a special webinar event on June 8, focused on entering the management consulting field (signups are here: https://bit.ly/caconsultingjune). Graham then highlighted two ‘Real Humans Alumni’ pieces; a Cornell / Johnson graduate working as a Technical Account Manager for Google Read more
Published: May 22, 2022
Wire Taps 234—UK-based African immigrant focused on sustainability. France-based African immigrant debating whether to pursue the MBA. US-based Latina, going HBS or bust.
Alex and Graham began this 150th episode of Wire Taps by reviewing some of the show’s “greatest hits”. A huge thankyou to our listening audience for making this podcast a pleasure to produce, record, and share each week! Beyond the fanfare of a milestone episode, Alex highlighted more waitlist movement, and the anticipation of further activity in this area as Stanford and Chicago / Booth’s decision releases are due this upcoming week. Graham highlighted a new admissions tip which focuses on the role of supplemental course work (aka transcript repair); this includes a deep-dive look at HBS CORe and Read more
Published: May 15, 2022
Wire Taps 233—Asset management sales to top MBA? Lawyer to consultant, from New Zealand. Military pilot seeking product management role.
Alex and Graham kick off this week’s episode with some discussion around the waitlist movements they’ve observed over the last week on MBA LiveWire. It is becoming clear that MBA programs are going to their waitlists in good numbers, with likely more to come. Graham highlighted the most recently published Real Humans alumni pieces, including a Columbia graduate who has landed at Microsoft, and a Northwestern Kellogg grad who is now in a role with Amazon. Graham also discussed a new initiative we have launched, where we are seeking reviews regarding your experience with Clear Admit. We ask Read more
Published: May 8, 2022
Wire Taps 232—Cyber-security military officer, physics degree. Food scientist, seeking MBA to do good. Top numbers, underwhelming school selection
Graham and Alex are back for another Wire Taps episode as Round 3 decisions continue to roll out (this upcoming week includes UPenn / Wharton, Northwestern / Kellogg, Michigan / Ross and Berkeley / Haas). Your hosts discussed anticipation of significant movement on the wait lists over the next few weeks and Graham put Alex on the spot with a question about the application process. Graham then highlighted two Real Humans alumni pieces; the first a Ross graduate working as an Associate at McKinsey, and the second a Stanford graduate working on matters of energy transition and decarbonization Read more

MBA Livewire

March 30, 2025 3:28pm ET
Rejected at Berkeley / Haas
Round: Round 2
Received via portal on March 26, 2025
Standardized Test: GRE
GPA: 3.61
GRE: 327
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Non Profit / Social Impact
Application Location: North Carolina
March 30, 2025 3:16pm ET
Accepted to Berkeley / Haas
Round: Round 2
Received via portal on March 26, 2025
Standardized Test: GRE
GPA: 4.0
GRE: 340
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Finance
Application Location: Boston
March 30, 2025 2:00pm ET
Rejected at Berkeley / Haas
Round: Round 2
Received via portal on March 26, 2025
Standardized Test: GRE
GPA: 3.58
GRE: 326
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Marketing
Application Location: USA
March 30, 2025 12:17pm ET
Accepted to Harvard Business School
Round: Round 2
Received via email on March 25, 2025
Standardized Test: GMAT
GPA: 88/100
GMAT: 750
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: General Management
Application Location: China, Shanghai
March 30, 2025 2:19am ET
Interview Invite to Dartmouth / Tuck
Round: Round 3
Received via email March 29, 2025
Standardized Test: GMAT
GMAT: 685
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Consulting
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